Russell disaster: drive-through for not serving the 5 second penalty

Monaco to forget for Russell George Russell’s disastrous weekend in Monaco continues. In the crazy chaos that characterized the race in the Principality, the Englishman didn’t have time to rejoice over Charles Leclerc’s accident when restarting from the Safety Car situation – a knockout that was opening the doors for the Englishman to an unexpected duel for the podium with Isack Hadjar – when yet another tile of this disastrous day fell on his head. In fact, the Englishman from Mercedes, during the red flag following Leclerc’s accident and waved because a section of the track was literally falling apart, received notification of a drive-through penalty that was imposed on him for not having served a previous five-second penalty. One penalty leads to another Russell, like many other drivers in the race, was penalized for not respecting the speed limits in the pit lane. Incredibly, however, the Mercedes team and mechanics did not remember this when Russell returned to the pits to make the Safety Car pit stop and they changed tires on the W17 without waiting five seconds. The F1 regulations provide that the penalty must be served during the first pit stop of the offending driver and if this does not happen – obviously – the sanction becomes much more severe. This is what happened with the English #63 who, thanks to his team, threw away any chance of at least limiting the damage in a weekend that was disastrous for him from a sporting point of view. In fact, it should not be forgotten that, before the Safety Car chaos, red flag and various accidents, Russell had even been lapped on the track by his teammate Antonelli.

Automobile Magazine – F1 English News , 2026-06-08 01:08:00